Yesterday ETonline, has publish an interview with Thomas Jane and he talked about the Punisher movie from 2004 and his recent fan film "Dirty Laundry".
ETonline: Well, you shouldn't take it as anyone saying, "We'd appreciate if you could stop acting now." It's more of a celebration of the work. Especially The Punisher, which has become something of a cult classic in recent years.
Jane: Yes, I've heard that from a lot of people. I'm happy the movie has real fans out there.
ETonline: When was the last time you watched it?
Jane: I've never really seen the whole thing. I usually sneak out of my premieres; go in the front door and right out the back [laughs]. I'm not a fan of watching my work. When I was a young actor, I watched myself so I could figure out what kind of animal I was. Billy Bob Thornton told me every actor needs to figure out what kind of animal they are so they can be that animal, but I don't think I've figured that out yet. I guess I want to be all the animals.
ETonline: What do you recall from making The Punisher?
Jane: It was hard, but rewarding. We didn't have any problems making the movie, although we tried to make Tampa look as menacing as it could ... which was troubling at times. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time in Florida, but creatively I wasn't a fan of making The Punisher in Florida. I never thought that went together very well. I thought there were better places for us to shoot the thing, but once I was down there, everyone was so great.
ETonline: Last year you reprised the role in a super dark online short, Dirty Laundry (watch below). What fueled that?
Jane: I'd been talking about my vision of The Punisher for years, and I finally hit on the idea of a short film that could show people my ideas. Then it became about finding the perfect guys to bring that vision to life, for me, the ideal guy was Phil Joanou. I happened to have met him a few months prior to landing on this idea, so he was the first guy I called. He really got on board. Chad St. John wrote my favorite script I've ever read called Motor City, which was basically a 100 page action film with no dialogue. It was a piece of brilliance, so we hatched what became Dirty Laundry, which was very satisfying because I didn't have to explain very much what I was talking about. We all liked the same stuff, had the same reference points and it was a great lesson for me. The success of it was vindicating. It felt good that my version of the character resonated with people.
ETonline: Can you envision playing Frank Castle ever again?
Jane: It was sort of my farewell to the character. I just wanted to get that out.
For the full interview click here
